Pastor's Reflection - 12/7/17

In case you aren't aware of it, I am one of the least
crafty persons on the face of the earth. It's embarrassing to
admit that, but it's true. So when I was faced with helping my
granddaughter, Lailah, make a gingerbread house a couple of weeks
ago, it sounded like a daunting task.

Yes, it was a kit. Yes, it came with instructions
(sort of). And it came with big and little pieces of gingerbread
to be shaped into the house and other things like trees and
gingerbread men. And it came with a zillion bags of assorted
candies in all different types and shapes and sizes. It also
came with lots of icing in assorted colors along with icing tips
and bags. YIKES.

Well, let's just say this was a two-day process. The
first night, we had to "paste" the walls and roof of the house
together with icing. After several mishaps and collapses, it
finally seemed to hold together fairly well. The instructions
said to then let the icing dry for at least four hours before
working on the exterior decorations. Check. And although it was
a highly CHALLENGING process (at least it was for me!), by the
next afternoon, the house was finished (hallelujah!) and even
took pictures. And yes, both of us were covered in icing.

I then found a nice, sturdy box to transport the
completed house from my house to theirs. And I carefully lifted
the house into the box. Well, it was a darn good thing I took
all those pictures. Because the house was apparently a lot more
fragile than I thought. As soon as Lailah took one step with the
box, the entire house collapsed. OH NO!!!! We decided that
there was still a lot of extra icing, so as soon as she got home,
they could reassemble it.

So I asked about it the other day: "Lai, did you
ever get Mom to help you fix the gingerbread house?" "No, but it
was okay. We just ate it, and it was really good!"

Sounds very similar to that old saying, "when life
gives you lemons, make lemonade," doesn't' it? Or even that
question we often ask ourselves, "do I see the glass half empty,
or the glass half full?" OR, we could even say it the way James
said it in chapter 1, verse 2: "Consider it pure joy, my
brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind…" Yep
… the story of that collapsed gingerbread house could preach lol
- and the lesson came straight from the mouth of an 8-year-old.
Thanks, Lailah!